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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27988326">nicotine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/niyuha/pseuds/niyuha'>niyuha</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Denial of Feelings, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Miscommunication, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Online Friendship, Online Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sexting, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Teasing, Tired Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Unrequited Love, bht not extremely slow, dream is stupid sometimes, dream just refuses to accept the fact that george could like him back, like irl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:53:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27988326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/niyuha/pseuds/niyuha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All he knew was that George was a drug<br/>And Clay was an addict.  <br/>-<br/>Dream has an epiphany that he might like his best friend. Probably more than he should. He couldn’t help it though, something about George just kept him hooked. Dream just wanted to know why. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>slightly inspired by the song: nicotine by p!atd</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>152</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i wrote this while on the verge of passing out so i’m sorry for grammar and pacing mistakes, might fix later on the week</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Addiction is a disease that plagues the strongest of them all. </p>
<p>When people think of addiction, they instantly think of the bad. Drugs, sex, alcohol, pain, you name it. Addiction is a word with negativity swarming it’s presence, that was no secret. </p>
<p>However, there is another truth that many people fail to acknowledge. No matter how safe you think you are, you could become an addict to almost everything and anything in less than a minute. </p>
<p>For most people, their addiction was objects, items that could be held on the tip of their finger. </p>
<p>For Clay, it was his best friend, George  </p>
<p>If you asked him when this all came to be, when his mind decided it was more than alright to develop a dependency on a man who lives across the Atlantic ocean, he wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. He was still confused on this sudden epiphany himself. </p>
<p>All he knew was that George's smile and voice on a Discord call gave him the same rush Mary Jane gave to her part takers. All he knew was that George was enough of a reason to turn his PC on every day. All he knew was that George was the reason his heart gave Clay a taste of death with the insane amount of palpitations George caused it. </p>
<p>All he knew was that George was a drug</p>
<p>And Clay was an addict. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>“Dream, this house isn’t going to build itself.” Nick’s voice rang through Clay’s headphones, trying to alert his friend from his AFK moment. An AFK moment that was fueled by none other than George. </p>
<p>Instead of assisting Nick on his stream by building a few new homes on the SMP, Clay’s eyes were fixated on his phone screen, where George’s live was being played. He also was on the server with the two other guys, but he was in charge of gathering resources, so he had left the voice chat to limit his distractions. </p>
<p>Only when he was hit in a game by Nick did he finally react. “Hey! What the hell man?” His body turned towards his set up, his hands planted on both the keyboard and his mousse “Didn’t want to use violence, but when you don’t listen to me, I am provoked to do so.” Nick reasoned, walking away from Dream’s character. “Now help me build!”</p>
<p>Oh yeah, he kind of forgot what he was asked to do. “Just for you hitting me, I’m purposely making the house you like ugly.” Clay offered, already using some dirt to build up the infrastructure of the home. In a desperate attempt to get the other man to stop, Nick was shouting into the mic while attempting to kill him. It didn’t do much, since Clay’s vengeful ass was decked in enchanted netherite and always went back to the work at hand. </p>
<p>This went on for a while, Nick’s voice almost becoming shot from the scream pleading he was doing. Even the stream chat on both of the men’s screens were wondering who was being the most dramatic here, Clay or Nick. </p>
<p>Then the Discord notification beeped, signifying to the guys (mostly Clay) that George had returned from his silent resource collecting. In the corner of his eye, he could spot George’s confused smile on his stream. </p>
<p>“What are you guys doing?” He questioned, a chuckle escaping his mouth at the same time he asked. “Sapnap hit me, so I decided to hit him back. Just not physically.” Clay responded, controlling his character so he could be a bit closer to George’s. “Only because he wasn’t paying attention!” Nick defended himself. “He’s lying, when have either of you caught me slippin?” Clay asked. He already could hear Nick’s breath intake before he spoke. “Exactly, never. I rest my case. Sapnap’s attack on me was unprovoked so I acted in self defense.” </p>
<p>Clay took a glance at his phone once again, tuning out Nick’s constant defense shouting to focus on George’s amused smile. He could tell he was enjoying this far too much. Then suddenly his eyes went wide and he sat up straighter in his chair. Confused, Clay turned back towards his screen. He looked at the Twitch chat and suddenly was caught up to speed.</p>
<p>“Tell you boyfriend to pay attention!” Was the line that got everyone’s attention, except Clay. </p>
<p>With a frown (and a slightly warmed face), George replied. “He’s not my boyfriend you idiot, I don’t have to control anything he does.” Clay seemed to be processing what he just heard before he came up with a response. “George, are you saying we’re not boyfriends?” He asked, his heart being in contradiction with the calm tone of his voice. </p>
<p>Chat seemed to like that response a lot. </p>
<p>George seemed more taken aback by Clay’s response compared to the sentence that started this all. “You idiot, that’s now going to be clipped everywhere.” George whined, his hands covering his face as if he was attempting to hide the reaction his body was giving him. “I don’t see a problem with that at all, unless you’re denying my love for you.” Clay’s little pout could be heard through his voice, his laugh threatening to pop out there.</p>
<p>With George’s stream on his phone, he could see George’s eye peak between his fingers, staring dead straight into the camera. It was like he knew Clay was watching him. “I hate you.” Was the last thing George gave in response. “Now that you fed the shippers a little, can we please talk about the resources I just got us?” </p>
<p>Clay’s heart settled down after the adrenaline rush he got from his quick fix of George, becoming a bit more stream ready before answering once again. </p>
<p>“Go ahead, George.”</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <strong>NEW MESSAGE: NICK</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <em> george was right, the clip of you guys being gay is everywhere now </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay was in the middle of editing his next video when he heard his phone go off. It was a few hours after the stream Nick was referring to, and with no surprise, almost every social media platform had heard about the newest DreamNotFound moment. He was even scared to open Twitter to see the mess that came from this stream. Deciding to take a break from his editing, he went to the chat log he had with Nick, typing his response back to the younger man. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: what did you expect? it happens every time  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: plus YOU initiated it</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> nick: hey! just because i started a spark didn’t mean you have to cause a wildfire </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: surprised you didn’t take that moment to confess your undying gay love for him </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay’s eyes rolled as he looked over the message from his best friend. </p>
<p>Nick was the only one who knew the truth about Clay's unhealthy attachment to the British man. Everyone thought it was a bit that Clay played up a lot, and maybe at the beginning it was like that, but Nick knew that Clay’s words held more truth to them than what the world saw.</p>
<p>Yes, sometimes Clay couldn’t help the things he says how he says them towards George. And sometimes he says stupid shit just to hear (and see) George laugh. And yes, sometimes he wishes he could be the only person George cared a lot more about than others. His constant need for George to pay attention to him and give him his social high just takes over.</p>
<p>But love? That’s ridiculous. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: i’m not in love with george, you know this. i love him, as a friend. but as a lover? that seems a bit much</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> nick: the fact that you’re able to joke about being in love with george, yet can’t bring yourself to the truth that you truly do is really concerning  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: when you first told me about how you felt about george, it genuinely sounded like a love confession  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: most best friends don’t describe their feelings towards their best friend as “suffocating but in the good way”  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay just stared at the text in front of him. He was trying to think of a response to give to the other, but his mind came up blank. His thumbs were hovering over the keyboard before he saw the three dot bubble pop up on his screen. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: look, i’m not trying to make this even more difficult for you because i know this is hard.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: george has been your friend for years and you’ve convince yourself that you’ve overstepped some of boundary that you’ve placed  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: that or you’re still trying to convince yourself that what you feel is a fluke or came into you way too quick  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Well Nick certainly wasn’t wrong about that. Maybe the reason Clay didn’t want to classify this dependency on George as love was because he knew that would make whatever he was feeling all too real. He'd rather consider whatever this was as hate over love, even if he knew this feeling was far from hate. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: idk man </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: it’s not the fact that a guy is making me feel this way that’s throwing me off </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: it’s just that…it’s george  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: the same george who knew me since i was like seventeen </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: our relationship has lasted so long, and there have been many instances where something like this could happen before </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: so why is it now that my brain decided that george was the one in control of my heart </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>With a deep sigh, Clay’s hand ran through his hair, the already messy mop becoming even more unruly. He looked at his reflection in the now dimmed computer monitor, hands still located on the top of his head. </p>
<p>He felt like he was going to go insane from this all. Picking up his phone again, he continued his rant. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: and it’s not like i can distance myself from george to make this go away </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: because all that’s going to do is put an even bigger strain on our relationship, one that is going to be more noticeable than that of my weird feelings  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: even if that wasn’t a reason to not do it, i don’t think my body could physically handle being away from him </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: he’s addictive, and my body has become addicted to him </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: he’s like nicotine  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: no </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: he’s worse than nicotine  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>He could tell that Nick was just waiting for Clay to stop his multi text thoughts, because as soon as Clay showed that he was done for now, the three dots showed back up on screen. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: wow, you really sound whipped right now</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: that’s all you had to offer me? after me pouring out my heart about the reasons why i can’t accept my feelings towards my best friend?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> nick: sorry, i don’t work well in emotional situations </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: all i can say though is, you’ve got it bad. whether you like it or not  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: and the only advice i can give you is to let this happen naturally. trying to suppress what you feel or ignore it will only end in pain so </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: for the future of you and george’s relationship </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: get your shit together </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay was reading the messages as they were rapid shot towards him, almost all the words leaving him in some sort of different emotion. He reread the last few messages though, almost as if he was trying to keep that advice locked into his memory. </p>
<p>The last thing he wanted to happen was for his emotions to be the reason why George doesn’t want to see him anymore. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: i’ll try </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: thanks</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> nick: of course, any time</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> nick: i’m going to head to bed now, you should too</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: i will </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: good night</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> nick: goodnight buddy  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay had set his phone down on his table, almost exhausted from the slight emotional discovery he was forced to go through by his other close friend. He could definitely say that it helped him figure something out, just not his feelings. </p>
<p>In retrospect, he probably could never figure those out. He was sure people in love still couldn’t figure out their feelings towards their partners, there was no need to worry about it now. He was just going to take Nick’s advice and let things run their course naturally. </p>
<p>With that in mind, he headed in the direction of his bed, video long forgotten on the black monitor as he got underneath the warmth of his comforter. He felt a sudden weight shift next to him and under his blankets, only to reveal Patches stumble out tiredly. “Oh baby, I didn’t know you were under here.” Clay cooed, watching as she slithered out from the blankets to instead lay on the cool pillow next to her owner’s head. And almost instantly, she was out like a light.</p>
<p>Clay was rather envious of his girl’s ability to just sleep anywhere at any time, it was almost a hassle to even close his eyes at night. Yet tonight, he felt emotionally drained. And that was enough to almost knock him out. </p>
<p>He reached over to his bedside table as he grabbed his charger, plugging in his phone only to see a text notification </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <strong>NEW MESSAGE: GEORGE </strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you’re probably already asleep, but i just wanted to tell you good night </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay blinked at his phone, almost in disbelief. It was like he forgot that George had contact with him. Without much of a second though, Clay unlocked his phone and opened the full message. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: i was just about to go to sleep </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> you: did you just wake up?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: pfft, i’d have to go to sleep to wake up, dream </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: you haven’t gone to bed yet? </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: nope, for some reason i just couldn’t  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> george: so please, for the love of god, don’t make fun of me on tomorrow’s stream if i pass out  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay’s heart was having its own drum solo against his rib cage at the moment, his lips stretched in a little content smile. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: no promises  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: ugh you're the worst  </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay had typed up his message that he wanted to send the British man, but hesitated for a moment. The text read as followed; “you love me, don’t lie”</p>
<p>He wanted to delete the message and say something generic in response, but his temptation to be bold and just send it was just as strong. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Just be natural, you idiot </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natural to Clay must mean sending such a risky text to the other man. </p>
<p>In those few seconds that George had read his message, Clay had already convinced himself that George loathed him and wanted to end their friendship. Not only that, Clay already thought up a plan to fake his death and go off the grid. All because of one simple text. When he saw George’s response, he scrapped it all. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> george: if you want to call my high tolerance for you love, then sure  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: i’ll take that </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: not surprised  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> george: anyway, i’ve kept you up long enough. go to sleep </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: i don’t think i’m the one who needs to be told that </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: whatever, i’ll take a nap or something </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: you better  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: i don’t know who you think you are giving me that tone but it’s really not cutting it </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay had to suppress the hysterical laugh he wanted to let out. He knew George couldn’t hear it, but he just couldn’t help it. </p>
<p>—</p>
<p>
  <em> you: no need to get so sassy, my liege </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: you’re so annoying omg </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> george: it was a mistake trying to be nice to you </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: sorry, i can’t hear you over your bs  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> george: i </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> george: good night dream </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> you: good night george :) </em>
</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Clay wanted the conversation to continue a little while longer but he could see that he was left on read, George’s indication that the conversation was over. It made him a little bit sad but they both needed some sleep. And it wasn’t like they weren’t going to talk tomorrow, so his heart could calm down for a moment. </p>
<p>Clay set his phone on the nightstand next to him, trying to get comfortable in his spot without alerting Patches. </p>
<p>As soon as his eyes closed, he entered his dream land, the only place he felt truly at peace with his mind. </p>
<p>And maybe a certain British man happened to appear there. </p>
<p>And maybe the two were a lot more than friends in this dream. </p>
<p>Maybe...just maybe. </p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. do i wanna know?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>dream is tired, and george is pretty</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi, so i have no clue why ao3 marked this as just a one shot when i said it was going to have multiple chapters but alas. thank you for the comments and kudos on the first chapter though!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s been a few weeks since Clay came to the conclusion that George was the person that caused his heart to fail from time to time. And slowly, he started to allow these feelings to materialize inside his chest. He still didn’t want to dub it as anything more than simple attraction, but he also didn’t want to just write it off as something that would pass soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One early morning for Clay, he was invited onto the SMP by none other than the man of his thoughts, George. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>George suddenly was in the mood to finish building and reconstructing a house for himself, and he wanted Clay’s help. And judging by the fact that it was only him and George in the call, and on the server, Clay figured he only wanted his help. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that he was opposed, not in the slightest. He just doubted that he was in the right mindset to even be playing around the man who had a hold on his heart the way George did, especially when he was half asleep. But he didn’t have the guts to say no. He still was his best friend, no matter what Clay may be going through with his feelings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So here he was, playing Minecraft at six am, half asleep, with his best friend/crush on a Twitch stream. It was great. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed like he was more there for moral support. Clay hardly did any labor while with George on the server. When asked to do things, he did them, but he didn’t want to mess George up. The only time he did something without asking was when George decided to place down glass blocks in the holes he left for windows instead of glass panes. Clay wasn’t one to care that much about Minecraft houses, but with the style that George was going for, the panes made more sense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he decided to break the glass. George let out a little gasp, a sound that only Clay picked up on well. “What are you doing?!” George exclaimed, punching Clay to hinder his damage on his house. It didn’t stop Clay though. “Making your house look nicer.” Clay practically yawned into the mic, breaking glass and putting down panes. “My house already is nice looking, dumbass.” George whined, still punching away at Clay’s avatar. “I want it to look as nice as you though.” Clay’s compliment flowed out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He felt time stop for a moment, his body reacting to that conclusion as his avatar froze in game. He didn’t know why he was acting like he hadn't complimented George this way before, it wasn’t like George was going to crucify him...right? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dream, your flirting isn’t going to get you out of this.” Clay heard the British man’s voice through one headphone and through his phone speaker. Clay forgot about the stream almost, his eyes drifting towards the device that showed George’s amused, yet “stern” face overlaid on his Minecraft perspective. He didn’t seem fazed whatsoever. Clay’s anxiety cleared up almost instantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My flirting? I can’t compliment my bro from time to time?” Clay chuckled into his mic, acting as if he wasn’t having a little crisis over the possibility of his best friend hating him over a slip of the tongue. From the corner of his eye, Clay watched as George’s eyes rolled with a fond smile on his stream. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clay’s heart threatened to break his rib cage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not when ‘your bro’ has asked you to stop breaking the glass blocks I’m putting down as windows.” George retorted, resuming his task from beforehand. Clay whined in retaliation. “It just looks ugly...use panes instead, it’s all I ask.” Clay controlled his character to walk up to George’s who looked right at him. “This isn’t your house, Dream. I’ll do whatever I want.” The Brit sassed back, finishing his window before going to the next. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For some reason, Clay couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And like that, the compliment crisis was over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the next few hours, the two of them played the game wordlessly, except for a few jabs here and there. It wasn’t an awkward silence (Clay thought it was at first but seeing that George’s body language hadn’t shifted to show discomfort, he dropped it), it actually was rather comfortable. And before he knew it, Clay’s phone showed the time of eleven am, his eyes went wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shit...have we really been playing this long?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Clay hardly noticed how quick the time passed them. He figured it was time to actually function like a normal twenty one year old adult, instead of simping for a boy in Minecraft. He needed to let George know that he was leaving soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like a puppy, Clay followed George around his house as he filled in the floors of his basement level he added in a while ago, an attempt to garner his attention. The older man didn’t seem to notice that or he didn’t feel like giving Clay the time of day. Clay had to go about it the old fashioned way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay looked over at his phone to see that George didn’t even flinch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Georgie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No answer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gogy…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chat at this point was spamming George to respond to Clay, yet nada. It was like George was purposefully ignoring him. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Brat…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey pretty boy!” Clay exclaimed, walking right in front of George’s field of vision. That definitely got George’s attention, both he and his avatar jolting in surprise. Clay looked over at the stream and saw that George’s face was a bit red. Next to the blushing George, the chat on his friend’s left was going crazy at the nick name. He hoped George knew he wasn’t the only one left shocked. However, the younger man was confused at the reaction, watching as George tried to straighten himself out. He didn’t think it was that big of a deal, especially considering that early Clay had called him good looking. Clay came to the conclusion that George was just embarrassed from being caught in the process of blanking out. And he was just going to leave it at that, yet another thought came to the Floridian’s mind, a thought that he liked a bit more. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Or he’s blushing from the nickname…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Clay’s theory was soon proven just by the nervous body language shift in the British man. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Cute</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>George cleared his throat as he spoke up. “Sorry, I zoned out for a moment. What did you need?” He asked, his pale complexion returning to his face. Clay couldn’t help but think how George’s appearance only became better when he was shaded a bit pink. “So pretty boy is the only thing you’ll respond to?” He teased, watching as George’s eyes averted themselves from the camera and his face darkened. “Shut up. What do you need?” George really seemed like he wanted the subject to shift. Clay figured he would let go of it for now, but maybe in private he’d question the other a bit harsher. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to go, I realized what time it was and I need to do adult stuff before I forget.” Clay hummed, head resting in his hand as he just focused on the phone screen in front of him. Clay didn’t miss the small pout that graced George’a (pretty) lips. “Oh...well thank you for playing with me for the time you did.” The older man replied back. Clay’s heart strings tugged at the tone George used. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t want him to go just yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course Georgie. We can play later, maybe without the stream?” He suggested. He saw George’s mood improve a little bit. “Are you asking me out on a Minecraft date, Dream?” George teased. Clay rolled his eyes. Even when he’s bummed, he doesn’t miss the chance to jab at Clay. “If you want it to be a date.” Clay played along. George’s body shook a little, a sign of a silent laugh. “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be in the mood for Minecraft later but, just text me later, okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clay seemed a bit shocked at that. It wasn’t weird per say, George and him texted the most out of their entire friend group, even before Clay’s revelation. Maybe it was the fact that George asked Clay to text him in front of three hundred thousand people that took the Floridian by surprise. “Okay, I will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>George’s mood completely shifted then, a genuine smile replacing the small pout from before. The joy that filled Clay’s heart from that reaction was overwhelming. The younger man needed to leave before he succumbed to the other’s smile. “Bye George.” He sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if he knew Clay was watching, George waved towards the webcam. “Bye Dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chat also bidded the Flordian a farewell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then the Discord alert sounded off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As promised, Clay left the Discord call and server to attend to his adult duties. They weren’t any life changing tasks, just simple hygienic necessities. From time to time, he often forgot that being an adult meant that he actually had to clean up behind himself, and that his mother was nowhere in sight to pick up his dishes after a long night of streaming. Nor was his sister in the room down the hall reminding him that he smells like a gas station bathroom, signaling the man that it was time to shower. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking care of himself was hard, alright?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not to mention, being a single father of a lovely (and furry) baby girl could be so taxing sometimes, he just didn’t have time to bother himself with deep cleaning every other day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just when Clay was about to enter the shower after the hours of work he put into making his house look decent, the music playing from his phone speaker was muted by the sound of a text notification.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>NEW MESSAGE: george </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you done with your adult stuff yet?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay’s hand reached for the phone that was sitting on the sink top, warm water shooting against the bottom of the tub behind him. When he saw who the text was from, his heart dropped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shit. He forgot to text George.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know why he let that of all things slip his mind completely. Any other time of the day, George was at the forefront of his thoughts. Yet the one time he vocally promised to keep the older man in his thoughts, he ended up forgetting. Clay didn’t like to think he was a dramatic person or anything, but this entire scenario made him want to jump through one of his windows and eat the glass shards produced from the damage. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: yeah. the adult stuff was just needed to cleaning up my house </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: didn’t expect it to take so long though</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay checked the time on the device in his hand. It was 7pm, it was easily one to two am over there in England for the older man. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: maybe if you…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: functioned like a normal human being…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: some of us have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, george </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: you could’ve just said adhd and called it a day</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: i could’ve...but nah</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay realized that it was better if he just got in his shower now, otherwise he’d just be allowing the two cents he’s charged per water droplet to go to waste. Yet he didn’t let go off his phone, instead just allowed his back to be sprayed with water as he held his phone in his hand away from the stream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: whatever</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: what are you doing now?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: about to hop in the shower. i forgot to take one this morning because we were playing mc</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: plus i worked up a bit of a sweat from the cleaning today so i kind of don’t want to smell like shit </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: shower dream, sounds steamy</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay couldn’t help the wheezy laugh that he let out underneath the stream of water hitting his back, trying not to drop his phone into the tub. The joke wasn’t even that funny, and most definitely wouldn’t be funny to anyone besides Clay. But in the words of Nick, Clay was a “simp”. George didn’t need to know that though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: your jokes are lame, george </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: oh shut up, i could hear your stupid laugh from across the atlantic. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: when he knows what your laugh sounds like &lt;3 </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: you have issues</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: you love them &lt;3</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: here you are again, confusing my toleration for love</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: are you trying to tell me something, dreamy?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay just sat there and stared at the phone screen, trying to think of his next response that wouldn’t ultimately ruin his friendship with the British man. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: i thought it was common knowledge that i loved you, georgie</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>you: you just refuse to return the favor </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clay’s hands twitched as he sent that text. He knew George could take that as a restatement of the several times Clay has proclaimed his platonic love for George, but the younger man thought that could be read as romantic as well. And though that could be true...Clay wasn’t ready to label it just yet. He just figured that he needed to get finished with this shower before continuing this conversation with George. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So despite the fact he heard the text tone for the other man go off three times, Clay spent the next twenty to thirty minutes showering off the grime and stink of his day down the drain. Only after the fact would he read George’s response. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: i don’t like having my entire heart out on the internet </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: some things mean a lot more in private</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>george: like me loving you</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i wrote this across the span of three days around 12/1am so i’m sorry if somethings just don’t flow right. i might edit it for grammar mistakes and such later but i just wanted to get this out. i don’t have an update schedule just yet, i guess i’ll try to update at least once a week</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yeah i don’t know what this was but i was listening to nicotine by p!atd disco and my mentally ill brain went brrr and wanted to write some dnf so. i don’t know if i’ll make this a multi-chapter fic, i guess it just depends on how well it does. </p>
<p>if you did enjoy it, leave a kudo, or even a comment! i’m not the best writer so i’m sorry for any fuck ups on my part</p></blockquote></div></div>
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